#lu guang saying “this is the last time” but he's talking about it being the last time he's willing to go back before

[whomst-doth-art]

Link Click Yingdu/Bridon arc ep 6 Spoilers

Ok so in the opening of ep 6 there’s the scene with Xia Fei, Vein, Lu Guang, and Cheng Xiaoshi are all at the hotpot restaurant and Vein says to cxs “You’ll have to pay with your body”

Cxs just assumes Vein’s gay, as assumed when he says that he’s heard that many people in Bridon are “into this kind of thing”

And then he’s immediately like “I’m so charming :) he must be into me” and seems kinda flattered about it.

Okok but hear me out

What if this is the first time cxs has genuinely thought about a guy being into him?

And he’s actually okay with it, likes it even. He just wishes it was another guy—Lu Guang— that was attracted to him.

Little does he know that Lu Guang is already so deep into his affection that he is willing to destroy the timeline for him.

So like Vein is cxs's gay awakening, not in the sense that he had a crush on Vein but in the way that it forced him to actually confront his attraction to Lu Guang.

You can sprinkle in some internalized homophobia for angst for personal preference too!

And the rest is history!!

Please, if someone wrote fanfic about this concept, it is not a want it is a NEED.

[yingdu-lover]

Cause I got nothing to lose : Xia Fei, my new hero in Link Click

before any serious shit wrecks havoc I want to ramble a bit

oh my god, I love xia fei. I mean I knew I would love him but that was for a different reason. He is probably gonna die in the near future, probably lu guang's action triggering his death (or he may not die at all! maybe he survives in this timeline, changing a major node! I hope, I hope), he is already a struggling student economically helpless abroad, his 'Emma' vibes are strong, he assures his worrying mother even though he goes through financial hardships. He is smart enough to know he is being exploited (and tbh the theme of surveillance and making him the 'morbid' object of gaze, I say morbid because in the last scene of his pv, it's a dead shot, his eyes look so dead, the camera's battery is dead. But yk what remains? his face card. The like button continually popping with likes made me very uncomfortable. The cinematography, symbolism and metaphor- link click's visual storytelling just never ceases to amaze.) Also how him being a model is not due to his passion, he desperately needs this money to survive (sounds familiar?)

But really...link click was really link clicking when we got xia fei's first appearance. Subtle social commentary at its finest. Not a woman, but a man is being made fun of for his astronomical career growth in exchange for supposed 'sexual favours'. Those ladies were not, in fact, subtle about it. I'll dive deeper into Xia Fei's psychology later but this encounter shows the harsh reality of the entertainment industries, mostly for those who did not join for passion but rather who had no choice.

Also the scene where his roommate. Man. It's important to address how 'casually' harassment can happen and an AMAB person can be a victim too. Anyway when the roommate tells him about ' the gig that pays quick money and they would like a hottie like you!' I couldn't help but flinch, I understand his rage. Of course, it's again insinuated to be something sexual. That's the first impression Xia Fei also has.

His pv is translated as 'lending body' or 'lending skin', ik it may have multiple meanings but one of them is very prominent.

Selling your face. Or maybe selling your body.

The way the camera fixes its gaze on Xia Fei continually, it's not really for fanservice merely. He is this object people ogle at. (and the way liu xiao and vein ogle at him in his pv makes me sick nvm). Even though it's his own body and beauty that makes him famous, he has no autonomy whatsoever. He realises it. That's why he says

Cause I have got nothing to loose

I don't really think link click is about time traveling. It's that archtexual exercise that constantly subverts genres at its level best. You know what, defamiliarise, many people do not like uncool stuff, for example : issues struggling young people actually face in real life, in this late stage capitalism. That's why link click should not reach that demographic of people. I hope it never does. I hope it gets famous within a community who actually understand and resonate with this show.

Also Xia Fei's story talks about another important theme of the donghua; photo! How photos taken in private spheres are meant to preserve memories of the loved ones, loved encounters. How you capture someone you love in that still image, alive with the emotion you associate with them, giving it an afterlife. The photo becomes the literal and metaphorical medium through which Lu Guang can rewrite history. Forget-me-not, remembrance. It empowers him.

On the contrary, for Xia Fei, it is the panopticon seizing his life and rendering it absurd. The emotive power and affect for lu guang changes into viscous institutionalised power politics for Xia Fei. Brilliant! 😭

I can't help but quote a few lines from a poem by Ama Codjoe

On Seeing and Being Seen

I am touching the photograph of my last seduction. It is as slick as a magazine page, as dark as a street darkened by rain.

When I want to remember something beautiful, instead of taking a photograph, I close my eyes. Desire made you beautiful. I closed my eyes.

.... Tonight, I am alone in my tenderness. There is nothing in my hand except a certain grasping. In my mind’s eye, I am stroking your hair with damp fingertips. This is exactly how it happened. On the lit-up hotel bed, I remember thinking, My body is a lens I can look through with my mind.

Lmao I didn't want to write all of this I'm so sorry 😭

So yeah, that was all the impressions hmph before yingdu ep 3. Now.

I want Xia Fei to be my bestie and go with me on friendship dates. Don't get me wrong, I love Cheng Xiaoshi, but he personally feels to be more like a brother to me, who is infuriating at times and that dumb bitch I'll protect at all costs. I want to befriend Xia Fei and it's serious 😭.

Also I would want, in another timeline, Cheng Xiaoshi and him being complete besties, two dumb twinks twinking with each other. Dumb gays basically. We have got INTJ nerd in Lu Guang, it's refreshing to see ENFP nerd in Xia Fei. Xia Fei could effortlessly be the best regular visitor of the time photo studio. I do not want to tear up thinking about him right now but I really want him to be happy...in another timeline. Blooming with happiness, close to his friends and loved ones, content and safe...

talking about loved ones...

I want an AU where he

fixes this mf

I want Vein to experience at least 1/5th of Lu Guang's anguish and melancholy for Xia Fei. I know, I know maybe Vein will kill Xia Fei when he defects, he is just using him from the very beginning but my love, that's what I am saying! In that AU, they will start off all toxic yaoi shit but at the end it will be...he was a cannibal and he was just a guy, their inter-timeline love will change your perception of love!

I mean no sorry, Xia Fei deserves to be loved and why Vein? because that's his punishment. Melancholic love can be the greatest punishment for someone who goes like a vendor and asks random people " would you like some punishment?" no, sir, thank you sir, would YOU like some sincere human emotions that chomp on your conscience? It's called love, it's limited edition but I'll arrange some for you!

Ok, I have got another fic to write 😭

returning to this post because @whispersoflullaby and I were discussing Xia Fei's body dysmorphia which seems specific to AFAB people and queer people. He isn't someone who is proud of his 'beauty', welp, that's odd for a typical handsome cishet person? His 'beauty' is turned against him. Ngl he reminds me of Ash Lynx a bit. You might say that he had a history of abuse and that's why he assumed the 'gig' his roommate mentioned as sex work. But there is more to it. He is definitely not a typical cishet boy, he is not projected to be one either. Even in the short span of ep 3, it's established that Xia Fei has some intimate connections to Vein, irrespective of whether Vein is using him or not. His anger at his roommate's remark feels very close to violating his identity as a queer person. The assumption that queer people are naturally 'lecherous', and they have no morality or anything whatsoever. But when Xia Fei is well established in the industry, this body politics is slightly changed. Money talks in the entertainment industry and money is the power in capitalist business. So those girls gossiping about the rumour that Xia Fei sleeps with the director for his career growth doesn't bother him like before. The most important thing is, he doesn't deny any rumours. He straight up says "Unlike some people, I always go for the best, whether it's a project or connection, isn't it right, boss?" His reply actually reinforces those speculations...it's giving " Yes I am a sugar baby, but ykw I can cry in my Tesla when you can't afford therapy". It's funny how at the end he says, "Right, boss?" to Vein! Link click...when I get you Link Click... *kowtows*

Also, I really wanna know what exactly did Vein say through the phone to get this reaction out of Xia Fei and cancel his plans to return home.

he is pleasantly shocked! You can see his eyes...that's some sincere emotions and then after the shock subsides, a soft look overcomes his expression. He softy sighs.

And also, idk if I am hallucinating but there is a little blush visible near his eyes (it's no longer there when he sighs)...I want to know what Vein said to him 😭 that interaction is shot in a very *jabsjksksdjnd* way, you can't deny it's intimate.

[sarshles-cheescake-li]

Why's Lu Guang's hair white?

It has occurred to me that a lot of people on the English side of the fandom aren't aware of the Lu Guang white hair theory.

It's a very popular theory/headcanon on the Chinese side (I'd say maybe 30% of people believe in it?) of the situation. I have no idea who in the English fandom have talked about it and who haven't, so I'll just provide what I know of it. Full disclaimer that I wasn't the first one to make this observation.

The theory is based on this scene right here, episode 12 of season 2. Here, Qiao Ling has a singular white hair after receiving Xixi’s powers (and seemingly activating them for the first time). This can be either interpreted as her spontaneously gaining a white hair, or as just an effect of the lighting.

Lu Guang has (presumably) received and activated Cheng Xiaoshi’s powers before.

Lu Guang’s hair is white.

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

It doesn’t help that his eyebrows are a different colour. In pretty much every piece of official media, they’re a grey a bit lighter than his eyes. Except for in the phone ad for OPPO (I think that’s what that was…?) where his eyebrows are largely black, except for one shot where they’re their normal grey, so I’m fairly certain that’s just a mistake in animation. I could’ve sworn to God there was one piece of media where his eyebrows were white, but I can’t find said piece, so I guess that was a fever dream.

Quite a few people have wondered how a naturally white-haired person would have darker-coloured eyebrows. Based on that, the argument is that Lu Guang’s natural hair colour is darker, and his hair turned white later in life. Of course, from an artistic standpoint, this evidence is… hard to work with. Characters with a light hair colour paired with a light skin colour often are drawn with their eyelashes and eyebrows being a darker colour for the purpose of contrast. It’s not rare for a white-haired character with fair skin to end up with grey eyebrows, since it makes their eyebrows more easily visible while still looking lighter. The problem?

Ouyang Bubai (how does the English fandom refer to him…? Do I use pinyin for him? Jyutping? Cantonese Yale? Is his Chinese name written in simplified or traditional???) has almost the exact same hair colour as Lu Guang. His eyebrows are white.

Paint tool sai version 2 colour picker (and visual examination) tells me his eyebrows are a slightly different colour than his hair, being a bit warmer and a smidgeon darker, but the point stands. Compared to Lu Guang’s eyebrows, you can definitely tell they’re drawn differently.

Other light haired characters like the Li siblings receive the same treatment as Ouyang Bubai, having pink eyebrows. It’s just Lu Guang who has his situation.

And no, it’s not a matter of convenience. Link Click’s eyebrows are always drawn with black lineart and a solid fill, usually one matching the character’s hair colour. Lu Guang’s eyebrows match neither his eyes nor his hair, something that would theoretically make drawing him more inconvenient because now you’ve got one extra colour in the pallet.

But if the point was that Lu Guang’s hair isn’t supposed to be white, then why make his eyebrows so light? Because now, what is potentially foreshadowing looks like artistic liberty. Was it for the sake of visual cohesion? To throw theorists off? Is it something about the character design process and Inplick?

Anyway, a few possibilities emerging from this theory.

How many times has Lu Guang went back in time for Cheng Xiaoshi if all his hair is white? Or does the process speed up the more you use another person’s powers?

Does his hair turn white all at once whenever he goes back in time, or is it gradual? Like, was there ever an attempt where Cheng Xiaoshi went to bed, woke up, and went “woah Lu Guang that was one mean mental breakdown you had last night if you bleached half your hair”

Does using another person’s powers affect you negatively in other ways? Is that why Lu Guang has limited attempts – not because he’s running out of photos, but because he’s running out of time himself? And, my personal favourite:

The white hair isn’t because of power usage. It’s because of stress. Lu Guang is just a lot more stressed than Qiao Ling is.

[miyamiwu]

Unpopular opinion: There is no Link Click “trio.” It’s just the ShiGuang Duo + Qiao Ling

Now, before the Qiao Ling fans come after me, I just want to make it clear that I do not hate Qiao Ling. She’s a queen, and I love her. What I do hate, however, is the writers’ neglect of her character.

Warning: This will contain major Link Click season 1 and 2 spoilers.

Cheng Xiaoshi, Lu Guang, and Qiao Ling have been marketed as the main trio right from the OPs and EDs all the way to the different official artworks and PVs. But despite this, Qiao Ling has never been portrayed like a protagonist in the story itself. Her value has always been tied to some other character, and what’s sadder is that even as a supporting character, she’s still being neglected by the writers.

Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang both have something in themselves that push the story forward. Cheng Xiaoshi’s recklessness in s1 is what gives tension to the dives and what leads to the overarching plot related to Emma. His planning in s2 also keeps the plot going. On the other hand, Lu Guang acts as the voice of reason, grounding the fantasy aspect of the show. His hypocrisy revealed in s2 also reshapes how we view the entire story.

But what about Qiao Ling?

Throughout most of season 1, she’s been kept in the dark about ShiGuang’s powers, which in turn excludes her from a big part of the story. In s1, it was only during the kidnapping arc that we see a bit more about her, but the focus wasn’t on her at all but on some random extra. And at the last episode when she finally gets to be in on the whole eye power thing, Li Tianchen possesses her, overshadowing Qiao Ling entirely and redirecting our attention and interest to him. (Extra: In season 1, between Qiao Ling and Emma, would you dare say Qiao Ling is the protagonist? I bet you won’t.)

Then in s2, despite Qiao Ling’s extra screen time and more involvement in the plot, the neglect of her character is even more palpable. She got possessed by a murderer, nearly killed her friend, and even tried to stab her own brother, but even after all these, we barely get to see how she had to process everything.

It’s really no surprise many people loved this scene:

This, for me, is the one time, the ONE time Qiao Ling is portrayed as a character on equal grounds with Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang. If Link Click were a sports anime, this would be the scene where she discards her role as the female manager over a bunch of male athletes and expresses her desire to become a player as well.

But unfortunately, after this episode, Qiao Ling is once again pushed to the sidelines. She’s a player now, yes, but a player who’s just being pushed along the game. She may take the initiative in some things (like talking to Li Tianxi), but even then, the things she do are all still just to help her friends. You know, like a supporting character. None of what she’s doing is for herself alone. (If any Blue Lock fans are reading this, Qiao Ling has no “ego,” so to speak.)

Qiao Ling has no goals of her own, and this is how the writers failed her.

All the other major characters have their own goals. Heck, even the antagonists are more like protagonists than Qiao Ling.

Cheng Xiaoshi wants to find his parents. And he also just wants to help the people he meets in dives

Lu Guang selfishly broke the rules of time travel just to keep one man alive and will do it again if he must

Li Tianxi betrays her brother and Qian Jin just to find a way home

Li Tianchen approaches ShiGuang and later kidnaps Cheng Xiaoshi because he also wants to go home

And Liu Xiao wants to, I don’t know, change the rules of time and space entirely?

God, writing that last bullet makes me realize that even Liu Xiao, who only showed up in the last episode of season 2, has more weight in the story than Qiao Ling. This is ridiculous.

Seriously, what is Qiao Ling even here for??? Play big sister???

Just market her as a supporting character. It’s fine. She’s still badass.

I also don’t have much hopes over how she will be in season 3 because of how season 2 ended. Qiao Ling seeing Lu Guang’s memories means her worth in s3 will inevitably be tied to this secret. It’s the s1 ending all over again. At the end of s1, her worth was tied to the mysterious Red Eyes. At the end of s2, it’s tied to Lu Guang.

If the Link Click writers are gonna keep pushing her as a protagonist, then they better start treating her like one!

It’s not enough to just give Qiao Ling a goal, by the way (although it is very important too). She must also become a player who has the power to control how the game goes. If she ends up inheriting Li Tianxi’s powers, as many theories have said, then may the drama around her not be focused on how she may leak Lu Guang’s secret at any time.

I don’t know what she could do with her powers, but I think it would be very interesting if she ends up opposing Lu Guang.

Lu Guang wants to keep Cheng Xiaoshi alive, but...

...he’s no longer alive. The Cheng Xiaoshi we see is just a glimpse of the past...

What if… as Qiao Ling sees more of Lu Guang’s memories, she sees more of the real Cheng Xiaoshi and suddenly… wants to let go… wants to move on?

The fandom have talked a lot about how ShiGuang may react once the secret is out. But what about how Qiao Ling would react to it over time as she realizes those memories weren’t just her overthinking things?

In season 1, she couldn’t bear to face that kid’s father for years, and at the end of s2, she couldn’t bear to confront Lu Guang… In s3, how long can she bear looking at her dead brother?

The chances of her “giving up” Cheng Xiaoshi and returning to the original timeline is slim, though. I’m just giving an example of how she can be more like a protagonist.

Anyways, I’ll end here… I still have so many thoughts, but I can’t figure out how to organize them. This has also been in my drafts for over two weeks and I just want to post it already!

[neragufetta]

All I cried about in episode 4

I have a lot to say about this episode, there are so many details that just shout "sus!" all over.

Chronologically:

No, seriously, how could they have escaped from the alley without being noticed? Ok, there was a fight going on but still? I suppose this is a minor detail and yet it triggered my brain.

Ok, so meeting Liu Xiao was also a divergence from the original timeline, apparently. I wonder if Lu Guang calling him "Liu Xiao" instead of a generic "him" means that LG knows the guy damn well or it is just culturally normal to address people by their name (like in japanese, where you don't say "you" but call people by their name when talking to them). Not sure.

Nice of the authors giving us a proper day/time in full view. So we are in June 2019, which again feels quite wrong compared with what we knew from season 1, regarding their trip: according to Qiao Ling, the trip should last till the end of summer but we are barelly at the beginning. About the year issue, on the other hand, I do have an idea.

Here, we clearly hear the click of a camera, and Lu Guang is there hiding, so it was probably him who took a photo. Why would he do that? I have a theory but I will explain it later.

Sure, they don't know him a bit. Of course, I'm totally buying it. Also, why showing this random park scene while talking about the survivor? Do we all agree that the survivor is the blond woman?

Easter egg: I'm not fully convinced but there could be some timeline divergence hidden in this scene:

Ok, something is wrong here: Lu Guang is using his power, probably on the photo he took in the alley, but how? According to what we know about his power, he should be able to see what happens in the next 12 hours to the one person taking the photo and only if the photo is older than 12 hours, how is he using it to control what's happening to Cheng Xiaoshi in real time? Is my theory about Lu Guang being able to see the future correct?

Ok, this is just the author being naughty, now, aren't thay? Liu Xiao's tattoo in this screenshot is completely different from any other version. Does it have a meaning? Is his power connected to that tattoo? Also, this scene might confirm that Liu Xiao's power is simply good hearing but, yeah, I still don't buy it.

Also, Xia Fei followed Cheng Xiaoshi by mistake, in fact when Liu Xiao met the boys, it was Lu Guang who was wearing the cat-ear cap, so Xia Fei's assigned task was to follow Lu Guang from the beginning, why is Liu Xiao now asking to follow ‘also’ Lu Guang? Doesn't he want to let Xia Fei know about his mistake?

And finally this. At first it seems Lu Guang knows what's going to happen, but then he is utterly scared by the outcome. Had they dived together in the beginning? Xiaoshi clap his hands preying for Lu Guang's help, did they have a different relationship in a different timeline, where Xiaoshi didn't feel like asking for Lu Guang's help this way??

Is this when Cheng Xiaoshi changed the past or is this like S1e3?

In any case, this episode was a rollercoaster, I loved it.

NG, out.

[mykingdomforapen]

Remember how I said I'm not done yet with the world of 'courage of stars'?

I couldn't help but write about a little one's origin story from the fic...a little Cassini, shall we say.

Spoilers for stars below teehee.

-

Cheng Xiaoshi was hiding something, and Lu Guang took a little too long to realise that maybe he was trying to be obvious about it. 

He lay bundled up in his hospital bed, still attached to various tubes (albeit significantly fewer tubes and wires compared to a month ago), but he fidgeted clumsily with restless energy. In his hand was an oxygen clip on one finger and a birthday card in another, which he was eagerly shoving into Lu Guang’s hand. 

“Happy birthday, Lu Guang!” he sang. 

Lu Guang’s birthday had begun with Qiao Ling orchestrating an entire day out for him–breakfast with her parents, a morning at the art museum, a birthday lunch with Xu Shanshan and Dong Yi, and a nap back at the Qiao household before visiting Cheng Xiaoshi in the hospital. Qiao Ling was determined to spoil Lu Guang as if he was a ragdoll housecat, which meant that she let him use her precious fleece throw blanket during his nap, a privilege even Cheng Xiaoshi never earned. 

Lu Guang was never one to want fanfare for his birthday. In part, due to the fact that for several timelines it was neither his first nor his last time turning nineteen, twenty, or twenty-one. After getting stabbed on his birthday at one point, he found it even less enjoyable. But when September crisped and cooled into October, Lu Guang felt as if he had finally seen the other side of an ocean for the first time, after an Odyssey lost at sea. It was an October identical to any other–dipping temperatures, bank holidays, persimmons–but all of a sudden Lu Guang thought it was the most miraculous of months and seasons. It was October, and Cheng Xiaoshi was alive.

He began to look forward to his birthday. 

Although Cheng Xiaoshi was still bedridden in the hospital, he and Qiao Ling had apparently planned the day together. Qiao Ling had arranged the art museum tickets, and Cheng Xiaoshi had convinced her to let Lu Guang take a nap halfway through instead of going to a cafe (it was the most glorious nap that Lu Guang had taken that week), and now Lu Guang and Qiao Ling were stopping by the hospital to spend time with Cheng Xiaoshi, who quickly demanded to hear in full detail everything that had happened thus far. 

“What kind of art did you see?” Cheng Xiaoshi asked. “What food did you eat? How much money did Qiao Shushu and Auntie Qiao give you in red envelopes?”

QIao Ling flicked Cheng Xiaoshi on the nose (she had quickly learned to restrain herself from her typical, more violent acts of reprimand in this time). “You nosy brat! That’s none of your business.” 

Cheng Xiaoshi snickered. His voice was still breathy and he could only be out of bed for several minutes at a time as his body slowly got used to surviving. He looked a little worse for wear, admittedly–paler than he normally was, chronically drowsy, and was routinely struck with a painful tightness around the chest and shortness of breath that the doctors had yet to fully treat, but he was breathing and smiling and bantering with Qiao Ling. He was alive, and there were no more caveats. 

So Lu Guang regaled Cheng Xiaoshi with his day, as he often did whenever he visited. Cheng Xiaoshi had struggled in the first several weeks of recovery after awakening from his coma, stricken with pain when he wasn’t under the heavy fog of medication and haunted by the memory of being killed twice. Yet he smiled every time Lu Guang visited, tired but genuine, and when he did not have enough breath to ramble he eagerly listened to Lu Guang fill the void, something that Lu Guang was not entirely accustomed to but grew to appreciate as he talked about the shop and recent soap dramas and his petty feud with a neighbor. He ran the pad of his thumb over the hollow of Cheng Xiaosh’s pulse on his wrist absentmindedly, and Cheng Xiaoshi listened with a faint smile on his lips, and neither of them remembered their pain. 

“So, you’re heading home after this, right?” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “No other plans?”

He asked it in such an artificially casual way, like a helium balloon bouncing against the ceiling. As fairly decent he was at pretending to be other people in his dives, he was helplessly transparent when he was himself. 

“I think so,” Lu Guang said, looking to Qiao Ling for confirmation. “We don’t have anything too special planned after this. Probably dinner.” 

“Dinner sounds like a good idea,” Cheng Xiaoshi said lightly.

Lu Guang raised an eyebrow. Cheng Xiaoshi’s eyes darted to the side nervously to Qiao Ling. 

“I would think so,” Lu Guang said. “We generally do it every day.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Cheng Xiaoshi said, waving a hand. “A birthday dinner…that will be special. You know, I think you should wear sandals for it.” 

Lu Guang stared at him.

“What?” he asked, aghast.

Cheng Xiaoshi shrugged innocently. 

“I’m just saying things,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “Just…might be a good idea!” 

“it’s the end of October.” 

Cheng Xiaoshi hummed. Qiao Ling, in lieu of slapping him in the back of the head, pinched her nose bridge instead. 

“Why should I wear sandals to dinner?” Lu Guang asked. 

“Aiyah, don’t pepper me with questions,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. He turned his head away from Lu Guang to sink lower into the pillow. “I’m vulnerable with painkillers! I’m talking nonsense!” 

“You’re such an idiot,” Qiao Ling muttered. 

Cheng Xiaoshi turned to her to grin. Lu Guang resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. 

“I told you,” Lu Guang said. “You didn’t have to get me anything for my birthday–” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cheng Xiaoshi said breezily. 

“Idiot,” Lu Guang said with relish. 

But he smiled, because Cheng Xiaoshi looked sheepish, mischievous, delighted, and above all else, he did not look in pain. He knew that underneath the hospital gown was a bandaged scar running down his sternum, twice opened–once to end his life and once to save it. But Lu Guang felt no compulsion to fix his eyes on it, like it were a beast or a rival he could not turn his back to. Cheng Xiaoshi’s laugh was enough. 

“Surely you’ll have noodles, won’t you?” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “And not those instant noodles, although I would commit crimes for some cup ramen right now. The food here is so flavorless. I feel myself turning into an old man!” 

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Qiao Ling said. “This is probably the most vegetables you’ve eaten than what you usually have in an entire year.” 

“Why are you nagging me when Lu Guang eats the exact same meals as I do every day?” 

Qiao Ling flashed a grin at Lu Guang.

“Because Lu Guang would just nod and say I’m right, and that’s not as fun,” she said saucily.

“What?” Lu Guang said, aghast. “I’m not a pushover!” 

“You are a little,” Cheng Xiaoshi said cheekily. 

Lu Guang huffed, but he didn’t know how to argue back when not that long ago, Cheng Xiaoshi had convinced Lu Guang to sneak a sesame ball into the hospital for him.

They spent the rest of the hour teasing and talking, with Qiao Ling perched on one side of the hospital bed and Lu Guang sitting cross legged on the foot of it. When visitation was over and Cheng Xiaoshi needed to rest, Cheng Xiaoshi beckoned Qiao Ling to come to his bedside and then, whispering loudly enough for Lu Guang to hear, said, “Don’t forget ot make sure he brings a soup spoon in his back pocket.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lu Guang said loudly, to which Cheng Xiaoshi sniggered. He squeezed Cheng Xiaoshi’s ankle. “Thanks for the card.” 

Here, Cheng Xiaoshi’s mirth softened to wistfulness. 

“I wish I could celebrate with you,” he said. 

“You did,” Lu Guang said assuringly. “Now get some rest.” 

“See you tomorrow?” Cheng Xiaoshi said hopefully. “Wait, no, no, you don’t have to. You might need some extra time at home.” 

“Extra time for what?” Lu Guang asked. 

This time, Cheng Xiaoshi’s sheepishness looked genuine. 

“Never mind what I said!” he said hastily. “Happy birthday, Lu Guang.” 

Lu Guang shook his head exasperatedly, bursting with gratitude. He and Qiao Ling bid Cheng Xiaoshi goodbye before heading back to the studio. 

Lu Guang didn’t actually know what sort of dinner plans they would have; Qiao Ling insisted that she would plan every minute of the day, which was very generous if not extremely intimidating, but she had not made any indication of what dinner might be. He did notice, however, that she had been almost entirely glued to her phone during the entire visitation with Cheng Xiaoshi, frantically texting someone until her wrist hurt. She spent the bus ride flexing her hand, wincing. 

“So,” Lu Guang said. “Do I really have to wear sandals and bring a soup spoon?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Qiao Ling said innocently. 

Lu Guang narrowed his eyes. 

“What is he planning?” he demanded. 

“Don’t listen to him,” she said. “He’s on heavy medication.” 

Her lips twitched into a muffled smile. Lu Guang let it slide with blossoming affection in his chest. 

When they made it back to the Photo Studio, the sun had already begun its autumnal routine. Daylight dimmed into dusk as streetlights twinkled on in preparation. The photo studio stood out on the street with its lights shining through the wide glass windows, which struck Lu Guang oddly because he didn’t remember turning the lights on when they left that morning. 

Beside him, Qiao Ling was starting a video call. 

“Qiao Ling,” Lu Guang said. “What’s going on?” 

“Hold on,” said Qiao Ling. “Gosh, what’s taking him so long–there we go!” 

Cheng Xiaoshi’s face brightened her phone screen, his excitement fighting past his drowsiness. 

“Are you there yet?” Cheng Xiaoshi said excitedly. “Are you home?” 

“Almost,” sang Qiao Ling as she pulled out her landlady key. Lu Guang could see through the glass window that QIao Shushu was in the sunroom, crouched over the coffee table to put some finishing last touches on something. It must have been a birthday cake, and Cheng Xiaoshi called in to sing–Lu Guang fought down the instinct to scold Cheng Xiaoshi for not resting as he as overwhelmed with a wave of love.

“Lu Guang, do you have your sandals?” teased Cheng Xiaoshi.

“You’re such a child,” Lu Guang said, wishing for nothing less. 

Cheng Xiaoshi beamed. Qiao Ling unlocked the front door and held it open for Lu Guang. Lu Guang walked inside as Qiao Shushu spun around quickly, shielding whatever was behind him from view with his proud grin. 

“Back already, you two?” he said. 

“Qiao Shushu, are you joining us for dinner?” asked Lu Guang. 

“We’ll bring dinner here,” said Qiao Ling. “I think you might be inclined to stay home for the rest of the day, after all.”

She was grinning with all her teeth, and Cheng Xiaoshi in her hand was practically bouncing despite being propped up in a hospital bed. 

“Happy birthday, Lu Guang!” Cheng Xiaoshi said again, as if he could never have enough of it. “This is my present to you–with the help of Qiao Shushu for setting it up and Qiao Ling for keeping you out of the house. Hurry, hurry, I want you to see!” 

“You really didn’t have to–” 

Qiao Ling hurried several paces ahead of Lu Guang so that she could turn the camera to face Lu Guang, just as Qiao Shushu stepped out of the way. 

Lu Guang stopped dead in his tracks in the sunroom as he stared down at a cozy, bedecked glass tank on top of the coffee table. A wetland biome fit itself neatly in the glass box, complete with water, mud, rocks, and greenery, with a sun lamp shining down into it. 

And in the middle of it all, content to mind its own business, and no bigger than a teacup, was a pale blue Amazon milk frog. 

“Surprise!” Cheng Xiaoshi squealed. 

Lu Guang didn’t realise his jaw was hanging until he noticed his tongue going dry. He knelt down so that he was eye level with the tank, his head buzzing into numbness with disbelief. The frog’s webbed feet were folded neatly underneath it, basking in the heating lamp’s ray with satisfaction. 

“Do you like him?” Cheng Xiaoshi asked, his light voice lifting slightly with nervousness. 

“You got him for me?” Lu Guang said quietly. 

“I spent weeks trying to find one,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “And Qiao Ling was helping me make phone calls to different shops all around China. Your yeye told me that you liked the milk frogs the best when you were little–”

“My yeye was in on this?” Lu Guang blurted out.

“Yep!” Cheng Xiaoshi said proudly. “He even got your dad to send me the name of the place you got the frog the first time–”

“My dad was in on this?” 

Incredulity heaped itself on Lu Guang with every turn, but he could hardly summit any of them as he stared at the frog in the tank. It looked just like Milk Toast had, all those years ago, when his childhood frog would patiently wait for him to come home from school. This frog was a little bit smaller, slightly fewer warts, but it looked healthy and happy and Lu Guang couldn’t believe that this was meant to be his. 

Emotion bundled itself in the middle of his throat. He blinked rapidly, moisture catching on his lashes. 

“Thank you,” Lu Guang whispered. “I really like him.” 

Cheng Xiaoshi pumped his fist on the screen. Qiao Ling was glowing with delight as she crouched next to Lu Guang to show Cheng Xiaoshi a closer view of the frog. Lu Guang leaned in so closely that the tip of his nose nearly touched the glass. 

“What are you going to name him?” Qiao Ling asked. 

Lu Guang had not regained his composure enough to make a decision such as that. He was fighting back the dampness on his cheeks and a laugh at himself that he, at twenty-two (twenty-two–it will take some time to get used to), would be weeping over a new pet frog like he did when he was a child. That seven-year-old boy, it turned out, was not as far behind him as he thought. 

“I don’t know,” he said in a watery voice. “What do you think, Cheng Xiaoshi?”

“Me?” Cheng Xiaoshi said, flabbergasted. 

Lu Guang nodded when his throat closed up with an overload of sentiment. Cheng Xiaoshi blinked before his lips stretched into a tentative, hopeful smile. 

“What about Cassini?” he asked. 

It came so naturally to the tip of his tongue that Lu Guang could only imagine how long it had already been sitting there before he had asked Cheng Xiaoshi for his opinion. It was a bold name, surprising in its grandeur, and somehow it seemed to fit neatly in this little frog. Lu Guang nodded, brushing his cheeks with a swipe of his thumb. 

“I like that,” he said. “Cassini.” 

-

It wasn’t until two months after Cheng Xiaoshi returned from the hospital did Lu Guang ask the question. By then, winter was already making room for spring, and a second Amazon milk frog had joined the glass tank. Cheng Xiaoshi had discovered that Amazon milk frogs were social creatures who needed friends. Lu Guang knew this about the frogs but kept that to himself, until Cheng Xiaoshi called him suddenly from the hospital sobbing. 

“I didn’t buy him a friend!” he wept inconsolably, which tipped Lu Guang off that he probably received a generous dose of painkillers. “I ruined his life!” 

“Cheng Xiaoshi, it’s fine,” Lu Guang said, but Cheng Xiaoshi cried over it until his heart monitor went up and the nurse had to check on him. After Cheng Xiaoshi went straight to sleep, Lu Guang thought that was the end of it. Naturally, when it came to Cheng Xiaoshi, it wasn’t, and after secretly selling some of his collectibles he purchased a second Amazon milk frog to the ecosystem. At this point, Lu Guang knew that it was less for him and more for Cassini’s sake, of whom Cheng Xiaoshi had requested daily photos of every day until he had been discharged. 

So Cassini and his new friend, Huygens (per Cheng Xiaoshi’s request), both became Time Photo Studios’ resident frogs. While they were not the sort of animal to play with each other in obvious, mammalian fashion, Lu Guang couldn’t help but get the sense that Cassini was happier with a tankmate. He wasn’t surprised, considering what he knew about frogs.

What he was surprised about was the choice in names. 

“Why’d you pick their names, by the way?” Lu Guang asked.

It was a lazy weekend evening, after dinner had been put away and Cheng Xiaoshi had taken all of his necessary medication. He was sprawled on their new sofa, playing a game on his phone while Lu Guang was snapping endless photos of the frogs on his phone as they politely sat on top of the log together. 

Cheng Xiaoshi turned his head towards Lu Guang, his hair flopped over his forehead carelessly.

“Because you asked me to,” he said.

“No, I mean, why did you pick those names?” 

Cheng Xiaoshi perked up. He set down his phone.

“You don’t know about the Cassini-Huygens probe?” he asked. 

Lu Guang furrowed his brow. 

“I don’t think so,” he said. “The names sounded familiar. I just thought they might have been one of your video game characters.” 

“No!” Cheng XIaoshi sat up sharply. “It was a space probe that took tons of photos of Saturn! All of its rings and its moons and it sent them back to Earth and scientists learned so much about Saturn and–” 

He stopped, suddenly pale, as the sudden rise of movement and energy was too much for his heart to take at once. He swayed on the sofa, and Lu Guang immediately beelined to the sofa to gently guide Cheng Xiaoshi back down to rest. 

“Idiot,” Lu Guang said. Cheng Xiaoshi’s sudden drop caused an equally sudden spike in Lu Guang’s blood pressure, one that he had not fully learnt to let go of just yet. He cradled Cheng Xiaoshi’s neck as he lay him back against the pillow while Cheng Xiaoshi’s grimace grew sloppy with dizziness. “You get so overexcited.” 

He sat by Cheng Xiaoshi’s side as Cheng Xiaoshi pressed a hand against his forehead, waiting for the dizziness to subside. Lu Guang unconsciously kept a hand on Cheng Xiaoshi’s other wrist, guarding his rapid pulse until it eased. Cheng Xiaoshi hid his eyes from Lu Guang, still not entirely used to this new state of being and thus self-conscious about it. Lu Guang said nothing else, instead running his hand gently over Cheng Xiaoshi’s forearm. It was, in some ways, more for himself than for his friend. 

“They taught humans so much about Saturn,” Cheng Xiaoshi mumbled again, after a stretch of silence. “And then–and then, after twenty years, they couldn’t bring the probe back to Earth, so it self-destructed in Saturn’s atmosphere so that it wouldn’t accidentally hurt any of the moons.” At this, Cheng Xiaoshi’s voice tightened. “I just really liked it. “

Lu Guang softened. He let his hand fall away from Cheng Xiaoshi. 

“I didn’t know that before,” he said. “That’s really interesting.”

Cheng Xiaoshi nodded. He went strangely quiet. Lu Guang teetered on the precipice of curiosity. 

“How’d you first hear of it?” Lu Guang asked. 

Cheng Xiaoshi hesitated.

“My mom,” he said. “She liked to read up on it, before…” Cheng Xiaoshi swallowed hard. “I don’t think she really knew what happened to it, though.” 

Lu Guang hummed. He had come to learn Cheng Xiaoshi and what he needed most when the topic of his parents came up, before their deaths. Cheng Xiaoshi preferred to bring them up on his own, because the moment anyone else did he couldn’t help but assume they meant so accusingly and would automatically get defensive. And perhaps that was fair of him–neighbors assumed the worst, Qiao Ling’s parents avoided talking about them, and Qiao Ling followed suit. Lu Guang learned to take their example.

But what about now, when the grief was finally defined? The day Cheng Xiaoshi finally saw Cheng Yinhe’s ashes for the first time, he wept without restraint, releasing all the tears he had denied himself for fifteen years. Nothing technically changed, and yet his grief was fresh and unfamiliar, now that death made their absence final. Lu Guang knew even less what to do to help, if anything would. But if there was something he knew about Cheng Xiaoshi, it was that his best friend always wanted to share the things he loved with others. 

“Did she tell you a lot about astronomy?” Lu Guang asked.

Cheng Xiaoshi sniffed heartily before nodding. 

“She always talked about the moon,” he said. He dragged his wrist over his eyes and blinked blearily at Lu Guang. “She told me all sorts of things about it.” 

“Like what?” asked Lu Guang.

“Like…did you know that the moon shakes?” 

Lu Guang blinked.

“It does?” he asked.

Cheng Xiaoshi cracked a smile. 

“Yeah,” he said. “It vibrates. Because it goes super hot and then super cold all of a sudden all the time, or something like that.” 

“Huh.” Lu Guang tilted his head so that he could look out the sunroom glass. The moon was rising early, its crescent arc peeking through the treeline. “I never knew that.” 

“Cool, right?” Cheng Xiaoshi said.

“Yeah,” Lu Guang said earnestly. “So the Cassini-Huygens, it studied Saturn’s moons?” 

“Yeah,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “Saturn has tons of moons. Not as many as Jupiter, I think, but…I don’t remember how many.” 

“Let’s check,” Lu Guang said as he pulled out his phone. “I’d like to know more.”

Cheng Xiaoshi smiled wider. 

[izartn]

So, about how I see Link Click's Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi relationship:

As it stands in canon? Queerplatonic partners. And it's convenient for the plot that they're like this.

Because of Chinese censorship it can't be explicitly romantic, yes I know it. Let me tell why it's queerplatonic for me. The way these two have intertwined their lives and futures together?!

Owning a business and living together, that hint in ep2 (comparing them to the subtextually older lesbian couple who also came across as queerplatonic bc censure) where Xiaoshi wonders/fears if years down the line he and Lu Guang will separate/break up implying their partnership is for life as far as he's concerned (the parallel can be taken as a subtext romance too but follow me we're talking text), the way they were already going also on vacancies together three years prev in canon, etc...

Without entering on their complimentary powers and the way the dives need both of them if they want security in not screwing the past, and the inmense trust and vulnerability the dives themselves require?

They're not simply best friends either.

Those aren't the actions of normal, totally not queer friends. Cheng Xiaoshi checks out women on the dives, sure, (and men too when the host is feeling it which I love bc they can't address it directly bc censorship and then it comes across as Xiaoshi being super confident in his own relationship to sexuality/gender) but I don't think he would ever date bc Lu Guang is already there, filling that place in his life minus sex and romance but all that same companionship and intensity of feeling.

These two meet in what, the last year/s of High School and then proceeded to latch onto each other with a commitment reserved for romantic partners.

And I know you want to say, "it's the censorship! they'd be romantic and canon if not for the censorship!"

Are you sure? Are you sure the story would work if there were explicit romance in it? (I mean, if they could I'm pretty sure they would have nailed it anyways but allow me my a-spec delusions) Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang feel so much like an already established pair, they work like one, and Link Click is not about them coming together like many other stories. Are you sure this would work as BL?

There's a distinct difference on the way they start the show already like six years at least since they're best friends and three or two since they live together. That's not usually how it goes. I'm talking not just romances but every buddy or nakama anime/show, where the protag has to learn to work with who will be his best friend or rival. These stories usually have the same kind of plot progression as a romance which is why they work so well when you make the subtext text.

But a story where the main romance is already established and we're following a plot that has nothing to do with it? Much more rare, even stranger to find them well done although there are some very good ones and with the friendships instead of romo they're more common. For example, Soul Eater, which is all about the trials of it and how they hace to truly come to understand each other. That's Link Click a bit, but not even then.

Link Click juggling a budding romance between Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi with all the other stuff is going on?? Messier for sure. I don't know if people would have liked it as much or if the donghua would have been as well done.

As it is, Link Click has the exact level of emotional connection between our protags it needs to have incredibly high stakes emotionally and at the same time not need a detour by romantic scenes/fanservice that would derail the plot or the other charas importance. That it happens to be pretty queer anyways in a platonic way?

Nice for the aroace-spec folks watching the show xD

Btw, I'm pretty sure in season 3 we're going to get more of Lu Guang's PoV, the origins of their powers and the past between him and Xiaoshi. It'll probably dig more into the aspect of "testing their bond and coming stronger bc of it" which is were the romantic subtext usually comes through...

—unless you're very very good at writing like Arakawa in FMA, who nailed the brotherly relationship without tipping into incest subtext which I've seen more than a few writers fumble. or the latest D&D film for the platonic childrearing and partnership for a no familial example between a man and a woman also very very difficult to get right for writers dunno why—

... but until then, for now I'm incredibly satisfied by the canon.

The other read of course it that they're already a couple since well before the start of season 1, and to mentally edit what we saw in canon with that lens (it wouldn't be very difficult honestly) but reading only the text? Queerplatonic partners!

There also how Xiaoshi and Lu Guang don't have that anxiety/insecurity of their bond that makes it so easy to read the want for something, like a romance for shipping purposes. Despite the disagreements on the Dives or the trials of season 2 or Lu Guang keeping secret Cheng Xiaoshi future/past death they read very steady which is fun. I love some good established relationship, you can go to deeper places when the base is already secure and the risk is higher for the characters. Plus I love domesticity! Yes, I do my angsty/Gothic leanings notwithstanding. Don't you know you need a home for the Gothic to be effective?

[pastorfutureletthembe]

Hello! Thoughts on what year did we see lg diving in? (s2e12). My lovely best friend pointed out that while we know 0913 as the date and 00:05 as the time, we dont know what year this happened in...its been intentionally blurred out. My brain is going a few hundred miles a minute, thoughts and theories clattering around my head but not making sense so... thoughts? I wonder if this is the first time he's going back and this is to link the season to Yingdu arc??

The exact year isn't important, I think. Honestly, I'll go as far as to say, being used of Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff: it's probably a red herring. The real question should be regarding when this scene happens in the timeline we're on, as the audience.

We're actually missing so much context. Is Lu Guang here actually Lu Guang? Does it happen in a previous repeat or will it happen in the future? Who's blood is this? What does it have to do with Yingdu Chapter? Lu Guang is in the studio but it has been implied that Cheng Xiaoshi's first death happened on their trip 3 years ago, right?

I'm the same as you. The more I think about it, the more my brain provides insane theories, some of them I already sent into the void of tumblr.

Here are 5 of them:

This is Lu Guang's first failed attempt at saving Cheng Xiaoshi. Li Tianchen takes possession of him and forces him to kill his friend. This is my least favorite of all theories out there, because it's kinda boring even if very sad anyway-

It might not be the time of Cheng Xiaoshi's death but the time of their first meeting. In China, school starts off the first days of august and Cheng Xiaoshi calls Lu Guang the new guy. 1) He noticed him. 2) Lu Guang wasn't around the first few weeks, at least. Arguably, Lu Guang feels guilty and believes that's when it all started. Maybe they shouldn't have met. Without their powers combined, Cheng Xiaoshi wouldn't be in danger, probably. A bitter-sweet memory, then.

Only Cheng Xiaoshi's death allow a repeat. Lu Guang cannot dive if Cheng Xiaoshi is alive, as a rule set by Vein. In this reality, Lu Guang made a deal with Vein, of course. And if a repeat isn't satisfying enough (Cheng Xiaoshi can't walk anymore or Qiao Ling has been targeted by a killer), Lu Guang would have to kill Cheng Xiaoshi to find the Best Route to the Happy Ending, as a punishment. Think of this theory as perfectionists playing a game with multiple endings.

This isn't actually Lu Guang but Cheng Xiaoshi in Lu Guang's body. As in, Cheng Xiaoshi with his abilities (that he canonically keeps when he dives into others' body), in Lu Guang's body using his own power to dive as Lu Guang. Diveception. I don't know if it makes sense but basically: Cheng Xiaoshi is the one we see in this scene and the voice over we hear is a letter that Lu Guang left for Xiaoshi before he died/disappear from reality or something.

This is Lu Guang's last attempt and this time he decides to keep them from meeting altogether. Until now, he was being selfish by trying to save his friend while having a whole life with him, which is revealed not possible. So he either erases himself from the timeline entirely or he changes the past by never putting foot on this school's ground.

Dark Bonus Theory: Lu Guang tried to khs and Cheng Xiaoshi got stabbed trying to stop him

Whatever happens, I'm sure: this scene has nothing to do with Yingdu Chapter. These episodes are a special season, not a third season, so I'm guessing it's either a prequel or a parallel timeline: perhaps they're finally going to prove that you can unravel an unchangeable node. If we speak about the process of telling a story, I believe Yingdu Chapter is only complimentary information and not actual groundbreaking plot.

I hope I replied to your question accordingly haha. In any case, I have a very different perspective on Link Click than most people I talked to in this fandom. Which is not a bad thing at all, but I sure have unique opinion lmao

[anulithots]

Hi, can I ask your top 3 favorite characters from Link Click? And why you love them? Also your top 5 favorite moments from the series?

As shiguang shipper, what do you think are Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Thanks if you want to answer.....

(Last one, are you surprised with that plot twist in s2? Can it enter your top 5 fav plot twist ever from any media?)

TOP THREE FAVORITES!

Cheng Xiaoshi - craves a childhood he lost (so real), empathetic and one of the empathetic characters that is done soooo well with all of the dives paralleling his character and exploring it, canonically likes cooking and makes sure LU Guang and him don’t survive on ramen noodles alone (+ Lu Guang’s bio things says he likes gourmet food sooooooooooo)

The silly and the way he stays hopeful and doesn’t accept finalities because of what happened to his parents and how he trusts and relies on others.

How he tries his best to fix the past and can adapt to the situation, predict how people will act, and is hyper-observant, but he doesn’t act on this ability because of how much he trusts Lu Guang and he cares about Qiao LIng so much and immediately cares about every case he hears about because of his empathy.

(Headcannon that he doesn’t watch the news after the earthquake, hence why he didn’t know about Emma despite it being all over the news)

Lu Guang - mystery boi. Cares about Cheng Xiaoshi sooo much and the way he relies on the future, on rules and on control and will freak out whenever the future becomes uncertain, a rule breaks, or things fall out of his control.

The way he’s shy about being in public but will not hesitate to yell at a police officer if it concerns CXS. How he reads all keeps himself learned and tells others (CXS) to do the same like it will fix all their problems (keep him less immature). The way that he has the trust of both CXS and Qiao LIng because of the way he acts. The way that one might look at him and think ‘oh the serious levelheaded one’ but NOPE. He lightly teases CXS constantly (whereas CXS is overdramatic about his teasing) and again, goes feral at times, as you do.

The fact that he creates rules and tries so hard to keep everting under control and no one the wiser but this is time. This is reality. He’s fraying at the seams.

Qiao LIng - will not hesitate to beat up her brother or lawyer for her brother if the situation calls for it. An incident she had no control over (Doudou’s kidnapping) stuck with her and caused so much turmoil that she went to university somewhere else and tried to escape her lack of decisions, regretting it the entire time (so real).

Compared to the rest of the trio, she’s the levelheaded one, and she has the most real takes on the weirdness of shiguang (’I thought you two were doing some ritual with the photos!’) and the way she’s the one who talked to, comforted, and connected with Wu Xia, Doudou’s father, CXS(multiple times), and Li Tianshi.

Her friendship with Xu Shanshan (’calling her beautiful all the time’) along with Xu Shanshan saying that she has to take care of Qiao Ling… QIao LIng is more like her brother than she admits. Also her (and Lu Guang’s… and CXS’s obsession with Boba tea alkfkajsdf)

the trioooooo

… just five… moments... sigh okay okay /pos

When CXS got angry at Qian Jin but was restrained, then Qiao LIng SLAPPED HIM AND IT WAS WONDEROUS (should’ve beat him up tbh but alas the paperwork)

The little moments in episode two. Especially where Cheng Xiaoshi says ‘just because you see no hope doesn’t mean there is none’ and Lu Guang SMILES

CHENG XIAOSHI’S SPEACH TO EMMA WITH KEEP IN MIND PLAYING THEN THE TITLE CARD SAYS ‘when there is light, once can photograph’ AND IT’S A MASTERPEICE I”VE SEEN IT A MILLION TIMES AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH

In season two where Qiao Ling connects to Li Tianxi via telling a story about her younger self and CXS, who she calls her LITTLE BROTHER AAAAAAAAAAAA

SIgh okay okay so like… all of episodes six, seven, and ten where Lu Guang is overprotective of CXS OKAY BUT IN PATICULAR - where Lu Guang notices that CXS is getting anxious about Xu Shanshan’s disappearance and tells Qiao Ling to keep him safe. Just how the calm and collected Lu Guang gets angry and frustrated when things don’t go according to plan and it puts CXS or those he cares about in danger. It shows a lot about his character

(Then of course there’s episode 5 where it’s just done in a masterful way with the earthquake scene and s2ep1 where CXS flashbacks to all the moments with Lu Guang and…)

Shiguang shipping + strengths and weaknesses

I have some thoughts I need to write down about their dynamic so that first if you don’t mind! (I’ll probably somewhat answer it here but aklfaklsdjf analysisssss)

(Also QPR shiguang is peak ahem ahem thank you /pos )

Okay so CXS is an optimist and looks for the best, for solace to fix the past he lost, and he views that Lu Guang loses hope too easily (I think, still formulating the thoughts on this one) which causes him to act on his own in episode 9 (when he goes back in time and witnesses Emma getting strangled.)

But okay the moment at the end here where he realizes Lu Guang only did all this to protect him because he does tend to get too emotional about things and ruin the past in his longing for a perfect one (which leads Lu Guang not to tell CXS things because he thinks that CXS is an ‘unpredictable variable’ and wishes to protect him from himself.

Which is nice of him but still. CXS is competent he just trusts others more than he trusts himself), where he asks Lu Guang what he should do as he curls up in painful defeat, which parallels where he says he’s afraid of being alone and in the dark in episode 5?

It’s link click and I kajdsfklasjdflkj

So CXS then sees what Lu Guang sees, that he can’t fix the past no matter how much he tries. Which is a painful thing, but to be honest, it’s something he needed… or not… it’s a nuanced growth that isn’t good nor bad (and CXS’s view on this will probably change when he finds out that Lu Guang went back in tiem to save him ).

BEcause CXS accepts now that while he cannot change the past, the future will surely change because of what he does, then he accepts that he cannot change Li Tianxi’s past. Okay so trusts and weaknesses with Shiguang is that they do trust each other and care for each other’s well-being… but the care for each other’s wellbeing causes them to not trust the other as much…. okay that made no sense here we go

SO CXS completely and totally trusts Lu Guang (at first trusting that he knows best - he said this in ep 3 I think - while also fighting with himself with his desire to fix the past, constantly questioning Lu Guang if things will really turn out okay, and in turn, reassuring himself that he doesn’t need to be swept up by his emotions.) which lessens after episode 5 - which was a risk on Lu Guang’s part and he did not want CXS to find out about the earthquake but alas - which then returns back to a different sort of trust (The ‘I understand now that you tried to protect me from myself because no matter what I try I cannot fix the past, so now I’ll hope for the future like you told me’)

Whereas the reason Lu Guang likes CXS is for his naivety, his innocent hope that everything will be okay, and for that reason Lu Guang attempts to keep CXS’s own faults from hurting him, along with the reality of the past and its hardships.

(Hence all of the ‘and remember that you cannot change the past and you’ll have to face the results of this’). THEN it’s BECAUSE of this overprotectiveness that drives CXS to think that Lu Guang gave up too easily (see episode 10 where Xu Shanshan is kidnapped. Lu Guang told QIao ling to keep CXS’s phone away from him and keep him at the shop to calm down)

OKAY so that’s all I got for now in this brain dump. LIsten to BishaJAWS. Thank you for the ask!

[teruki-inoue21]

What S2E12 might mean for the “future” of Link Click

It’s been a long 10 weeks, and we’ve been thru 11episodes. Now that we’ve been blessed (or rather cursed?) with the PV of the last episode of Link Click II, I want to clarify a few things regarding what could happen later on in the plot, like in Link Click III or whatnot. So, let’s go!

• Qiao Ling’s (MORE improved) role

=>So, abt our ladyboss, Qiao Ling. In the first season, she didn’t have much of a role. The only notable thing I remember her doing is introducing new ppl to the series. Like, Xu Shanshan, Master Si Wen, etc etc. But this time in season 2, she has a bigger and more important role. She’s fighting side-by-side with CXS, helping in the investigations, being a great elder sister for Xixi, AND formulating plans too. However, the PV for the last episode gave us an even bigger reveal as to what will or might happen to her going on with Link Click III.

Now that Xixi is dead (f**k Qian Jin), it seems that she has transferred her powers to Qiao Ling. Welp, people with these powers have always been the prime focus of the show, and now that Qiao Ling ALSO seems to have powers, there’s no doubt that her importance in the story will be much more from now on. I personally believe that in the event CXS actually ends up dying, she’ll be a key role to get LG to try again to save him. More on that later.

• Qian Jin

=> What can I even say about this guy? I’ve hardly seen anyone so loathe worthy and despicable in anime history. But I’m not here to hate on this guy RN. What I’m here to talk about is his connection to the main characters, some hidden characters, and his motives.

Now, Episode 11 has clearly shown us his motive. He wants to use CXS to go to the past and stop his wife from her supposed betrayal. (I swear, dude’s just TOO hung up on his wife who he murdered HIMSELF!) . But what’s odd is that his motive is just too personal. What I mean by that is that, when the poster for Qian Jin dropped, his shadow was the supposedly infamous Hat Guy aka Liu Xiao. This tidbit made all of us think that he HAD to working with/for Liu Xiao, and thus, his motives shouldn’t be personal. But here we are, with his motive having NO connection to Hattie. So why was his poster designed like this anyway? Maybe Hattie was the guy who told him about CXS? But even so, that makes Hattie’s role too meh for the plot..

• Liu Xiao aka the Hat Guy (and more new characters?)

=> Even though it’s been 11 out of 12 episodes, we still know almost nothing about Liu Xiao except for the fact that he’s abroad. But despite being so ambiguous, all of us know the amount of significance this guy has over the events of Link Click. Or do we?

Let’s talk about that.

Ever since the very first episode of Link Click, we know that the client who gave our main trio the Emma job wasn’t Emma herself, but rather someone anonymous. Thanks to @mimicha-arts ‘s post, we know that someone was keeping tabs on CXS, LG, and QL. Now, let’s say that it was Hattie. That would make a lot of sense, since he seems to be some kind of overseer of the events unfolding or some grandmaster himself (I’m saying that due to the fact that he’s being likened to be similar to Lu Guang).

But even if that’s the case, what could be his motive? Well, even I know shit about that. However, as I said in an earlier post, I believe that the big bad of the series isn’t Qian Jin, but Liu Xiao; and that he would have a showdown against Lu Guang. Maybe Liu Xiao was shown as the shadow to Qian Jin to show us how evil he could be? Cuz think of it like this: shadows are dark, right? So, if Qian Jin’s evil, doesn’t it make PERFECT sense if his shadow, LIU FRIKING XIAO, is MORE twisted and/or evil? Yeah…

So, we’re wrapped up with Hattie now. BUT, what if I told u there were MORE characters to be introduced?

Take a look..

Now, there’s someone on the roof of that one building. I may be wrong in thinking that it’s a new character and could simply be Chen Bin, but part of me still wants to believe that it’s a new guy, probably with special powers too, (as for whether they’d be an ally or enemy, I’ll leave that part to you guys).

• The Contents of Liu Min’s phone

=> This topic has been a major question since the first episode of Link Click II, and hasn’t been answered still. Liu Min’s phone. What’s even in there that Qian Jin had to literally kill his own mentee to get that thing? What’s so important in that phone that even this far in ep11, it’s a major item for the villains? Is it related to Liu Xiao? Quede Games? Does LTch need it to go back in time?

As for the answers, all I can do is speculate. I think that, as Liu Xiao IS Liu Min’s brother, there has to be some info on him there. Then again, it might also be related to Emma and Quede? But whatever it is, it’s a very important material. If not explored in II, I believe it will be important for III.

• Lu Guang and alternate timelines

=> And now, to the infamous “Lu Guang is a time traveler” theory. Well, we all have the general go-thru for This theory. In a given timeline, CXS dies, and to save him, LG keeps jumping thru time over and over again …

I believe I’ve already talked about how the alternate timelines theory is important for the plot of Link Click III. Here’s the post

• The meaning of “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother”?

=> Episode 12’s title says the most ominous yet very emotional line: “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother.” Such a thought-provoking title, don’t y’all think?

Funnily (or ironically, I don’t even know at this point) enough, this sentence can be thought of by two perspectives. Y’all guessed it - Qiao Ling AND Tianxi’s. So let’s go over those and deduce whatever plot points we can find for Link Click III.

Li Tianxi’s POV: So, the photo that started it all, for our pink-haired twins features a line written in crayon by Xixi, which says, “I can’t live without my good brother.” Odd, no? How she calls her brother good despite knowing that he’s actively involved in killing a multitude of people? Well, this is Link Click we’re talking about; and this, there’s always a reason for everything. Let’s say that Tianchen really IS a good person, or at least he wants to be (from Xixi’s perspective ofc). Why wouldn’t he be? He cares about Xixi a lot, prioritizes her safety first, even his deal with Qian Jin exists so that he can ensure safety for his sister. He even said in episode 11 that doing all this killing business for Qian Jin was truly hell for him and he wanted to escape. Hmm.. know what this sounds like to me? A pinch of sister complex! Yup! Tianchen is a really good brother. And all he’s done and has Been doing is so that he can have a better life with his sister. The fact that Xixi wrote “I Can’t live Without My Good Brother” means that she doesn’t want to lose her brother to the forces of evil that include Qian Jin… and maybe, that one childhood friend of Tianchen’s? (Of course I’m talking about Liu Xiao, and there u go, I mapped out the possible Link Click III content from here and how , even tho dead, Xixi will be crucial to the plot of what I predict will be Lu Guang V Liu Xiao). In that case, we can conclude by saying that Li Tianchen actually is a quite tragic character (more on that on a separate post).

Qiao Ling’s POV: Now, I’m most excited to talk about her POV, since I believe her insight on “Can’t Live Without A Good Brother” stems from CXS’s death in S2 (which I think is guaranteed to happen). Over the course of these two seasons, we’ve seen and have come to love the dynamic between Qiao Ling & Cheng Xiaoshi. S2E8 even shows how much QL cares about CXS, as she always looks out for him not just as a friend, but as a sister as well. So, let’s all assume that CXS and LG lose the fight against Qian Jin, and at the end, CXS dies. Remember what I said about Qiao Ling inheriting Xixi’s power and how that can help play a role in Lu Guang’s attempt to change/reverse CXS’s death? Well, here we are. Given that CXS dies, we can all imagine how distraught QL and LG will be. It is then QL decides to use Xixi’s power to transfer CXS’s power to Lu Guang (that’s the most reasonable thing to do, as Lu Guang knows better about diving in the past than Qiao Ling), but in a worse case scenario, she uses it herself? Whichever the case, I believe this is the way the staff will answer how Lu Guang has been time traveling despite not having the power to do so, and also kick start the events of Link Click III.

The Overseas Trip

=> Another thing that has technically been confirmed by the director, Li Haoling himself? All of us know that the director has said that the overseas trip that CXS and LG went on during their university days will definitely come into play later on. So far, whatever hint of that we have is the ED, THE TIDES, where the duo go on and investigate (?) a house that looks identical to the house of the main character of the 2002 movie, The Time Machine; and a rough animation draft of CXS and LG in holiday clothing riding a car. I say that, the overseas trip is not just limited to the ED. Sure, the ED is definitely showing us something related to that, but considering that trip is how both CXS and LG (or just CXS since according to the alternate timelines theory, LG should already have his power) unlock their powers, it DEFINITELY will come into play in Link Click III.

• Emma?

=> Very few characters in anime (or should I say donghua) always haunt the narrative of the story even after they’re dead. Such is really the case with Emma. Even though we see her die (yet again) in S1E11, she still appears on the S2 OP, VORTEX. BUT, she is literally NOWHERE in the main events of S2. Well, it would definitely make more sense to include characters who have more roles in S2 in the OP (Like Milady Wang Juan, Capt. Xiao Li, prolly also Xiao Ma?) rather than a character who seemingly has no role in the season, right? That is PRECISELY why the fact that Xiao Li doesn’t appear in the OP despite being so important but EMMA does, alludes to the fact that we’re not done with her arc yet. This means that, yep, Liu Xiao is linked here…

CONCLUSION:

Welp, there ain’t not conclusion, not yet. Not until there’s a confirmation AND a trailer for S3 and we get to see Liu Xiao face reveal.

Til then, I’ma go feral sitting on my toilet seat and thinking about S3….

[pollocamis]

So. Everyone seems to agree that Dive Back in Time is from CXS's POV, but I don't really think so?

Bear with me

(spoilers after the cut)

SO. UM. IT HAPPENED. THE THEORY EVERYONE HAS BEEN GOING APESHIT FOR.

And THAT's where I think the song is no longer meant to be in CXS's POV. I think it never was tbh, but it was always LG's song. I'm no interpreter (God I wish I was one of the theorists of Tumblr) so I'll just go through a few obvious points in order through the lyrics.

1.

"Without you, I don't know if I could take this road", "if only I had got it right before". While I think everything screams LG's POV these are the main-sentences in this part. W now know LG really cannot take "this road" (the timeline he was in) without CSX by his side. And the second one shows he's prolly very regretful for letting CXS die. Foreshadowing to it being his fault maybe? Hope not!!!

I'm not talking about the "chase you to the end of the world" lines, bc they're obvious enough. Come on.

2.

So... haha I hope it's not a surprise I'm a shiguang shipper.

Moving on: these lines are the main reason I thought the song is LG's. While the line "I'm always late to my fate" is kinda CXS coded (he's late to dying bc LG keeps saving him haha get it), the rest just screams LG and his silent love (be it wtv kind of love. Like even if you don't ship it you can't deny he loves him in some way. Would you rip the literal fabric of time and reality for someone you don't love).

"Here's to all the mistakes I never made" is pretty on the nose: he's gone back and fixed the stuff that caused CXS's death node to appear.

Now, the part that made me clarify I'm a shipper: "If it ain't for your misguided taste, I'd turn out so ordinary, fabulously un-addictively bore out my own brain". We all know LG's considered to be the more stoic rational one of the pair, and has probably always been like this. I believe CSX entering his life had such a big effect on him, he actually relaxed in some way or smth. I do not know the words to express this properly in English nor do I have any evidence of this, so I hope it makes enough sense.

Now this doesn't have to mean anything for the ship but I like being delusional.

3.

THIS. SO.

I believe he's saying this words to CXS when he's dead. He's probably like "well, I know I told you you shouldn't be messing with time and I'm gonna be a hypocrite but don't feel sorry for me I'm fine with anything as long as you're alive" (hence "I'll love where I'm going now"). " 'Cause I'm about to lose my mind" is simply him going apeshit for CXS's death to the point where he's decided to go back in time. You can't change my mind have you SEEN THE ANGER IN THIS DUDE WHEN CXS GOT SHOT ISTG-

4.

I know I said I was going in order and then left the chorus for the end but this screenshot has the last chorus so it counts :)

I think this is the main reason ppl believe it's meant to be CXS, and this is probably meant to be deceitful. We didn't know Lu Guang could go back in time after all, so it made it seem like it was CXS's words. Especially with "something secretive hidden inside your mind", which I don't truly have a theory for tehehe. But let's get back on track.

"All the heartaches and the smiles never faded, I know you'll be by my side when we make it" kinda seems like LG's telling that everything is fine after he's gone back, doesn't it? He's rewound CXS's existence, wich got him back to happy times; but he hasn't really moved on. His heart still hurts when he remembers what's gonna happen.

"I know you'll be by my side when we make it" is simply him being hopeful that the whole going-back-in-time plan will work. And maybe foreshadow to a happy ending? (please)

I probably didn't add anything new but I need to rant about this show a little bit 'cus i'm about to lose my mind *wink wink*

[coffeestainedcamera]

Anyways, time to obsessively theory-craft while waiting on ep 3! Heavy spoilers, obv!

Okay, so I'm not sure Lu Guang is in the clear yet. We had that poster where only Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling are wearing black formal clothes, but he isn't. Almost like they might be attending his funeral? Not too sure if this was part of the misdirection about his death before the air date, though. But then again, the crew sure loves emotionally devastating us viewers, so they might very well kill him off and have a season about Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling trying to save him. Our girl is in the know about the photo time travel and the superpowered killer now, so it'd not be surprising for her to be a co-lead. And we did have that ending sequence where she's the mission control, even though Lu Guang normally serves in that role.

I'm still not entirely sure that the killer will be responsible for offing him, though. They're in this for fun, so I think that they'd love to keep toying with the most powerful opponents they've gone up against yet. I do suspect they'll try to steal Lu Guang's powers, if they weren't bluffing about the matter in the season 1 finale. From there, I think that fate will be the other main villain, as he previously told Cheng Xiaoshi that death is an unchangeable node. So maybe if the killer doesn't want to end him, the universe will keep setting up bad ends to prevent a time paradox. Maybe it's punishment for potentially trying to save Cheng Xiaoshi from death in the other timeline. Not too sure how many times he lost him before the current timeline, but it'd explain the aggressive protectiveness. And maybe this talk of him being too mature for his age is a hint that he's been time traveling a while now.

Additional items of interest about the killer:

They say their powers are photo-related too, and we do see the Officer die after that lawyer steals a photo of him. Not lying about possession, then.

Most likely pushed him off the roof, and the manner of death overall reminds me of Emma. It's a clear taunt to the leads.

The last person who held the photo was the creepy kid, although it'd be a little too unsubtle. Maybe the crew is misdirecting us again?

The killer's manner of speaking in the russian subs for the post-stabbing confrontation is very informal. The vocab used is more likely to be used in a conversation between friends than acquaintances. They use ты/informal you with Cheng Xiaoshi upon an early meeting, which can be considered impolite/overfamiliar. It fits with their "do you wanna be friends with me, and only me?" schtick.

This stalker-ish moment is why I'm not completely discounting the possibility that they may off Lu Guang. He's an obstacle to Cheng Xiaoshi's attention, but offing him would make him mad. For preserving this "friendship", they might not do it.

It's very interesting that the russian subs for the main confrontation scene avoided gendered conjugations of words (and s1 has not back-added them, so I don't really have a comparison point). Can't comment on how faithful this is to the original voiceovers, but this ambiguity is very interesting indeed. Definitely preserves the feeling of basically anyone being a suspect for now.

Anyways, there's still a ton of missing puzzle pieces so uh. That's about it. Oh, and quick explainer of my understanding of the misdirection around Lu Guang's "death":

Two guys in critical condition at around the same time

Both go into the operating room

We begin cutting between these concurrent events, like when we had that scene of luring the killer to the photo studio

We never see their faces, and both are in bad enough condition that either could flatline

The killer didn't go at Lu Guang's throat at any point, so he shouldn't have the neck injuries

The man getting defibbed has neck injuries, therefore it's someone else

But of course, I was too shocked in the moment to think of any of this lol.

[amorelray]

Dive Back in Time - An Analysis

Season 1 Analysis: ❗Season 1 Spoilers❗

Disclaimer: All thoughts are my own personal interpretation and contain my own theories.

Starting with the First Verse & Prechorus:

It didn't take too long to realize Something has changed in the back of my mind Your eyes There ain't nowhere left to hide behind Time no longer flew like it was When the flash froze everything before Without you I don't know if I could take this road Chase you to the end of the world Just to say your name once more If I had only got it right before

At the beginning of the season, I had a feeling that the OP had a large part of Cheng Xiaoshi's POV inside of it. Especially this first verse & prechorus. The reason why I felt this way was because of the way the two guys were portrayed within the show. Cheng was clearly the more emotional and rash character that would be more likely to seek out Lu Guang if something ever happened. Quite frequently CXS was seen looking to LG for guidance and to be a rock for him when he needed it most. Specifically the line "without you, I don't know if I could take this road," really struck a chord with me regarding CXS because of how much he really does lean on LG. This thought was further encouraged by the end of Season 1 as LG gets stabbed and is clearly portrayed to be in a very unstable state. Within the last episode, I believe the whole story ups the ante when it comes to doubling down on this idea that CXS is likely to dive back in time to save LG. Thus, really making the audience believe that this first portion of the song is most likely from CXS's POV.

Second Verse & Prechorus:

Here's to all the mistakes I never made All the twists and turns I'm always late to my fate If it ain't for your misguided taste I'd turn out so ordinary Fabulously un-addictively bore out my own brain Hey, out of my way

Upon finishing the first season, I assumed this was heavily in regard to Lu Guang/his POV. "All the mistakes I never made," "...late to my fate," "I'd turn out so ordinary." LG is the person who always reiterates the rules and even gets mad at CXS at one point for diving without his guidance. He also talks frequently about the "death node" and how those cannot be crossed; but, after the end of Season 1, it's heavy-handed in making the audience believe that CXS is going to make LG "late to his fate" by going back and changing the past. Also, out of the two powers, LG's appears to be the least drastic. The most he can do is look at a picture and see 12 hours into the future of it. Whereas CXS can jump into the photo and potentially change what has already happened. Thus, making LG the more likely one to be "ordinary" without CXS.

Chorus:

Every minute that I dialed back in time Every single existence rewinds Something secretive hidden inside Your mind All the heartaches and the smiles never faded I know you'll be by my side when we make it Come back from the dive back in time

Once again, I saw this from CXS's POV. I believed this was CXS because he was the one literally dialing back in time. LG wasn't the one jumping into the photos. He was. So, the whole chorus felt like it was CXS's moments of jumping back in time and recalling all of the memories he had with LG over the years, but the line "Come back from the dive, back in time," really made me believe that it was actually LG calling for CXS to return. Once the season ended, this chorus had me broken. The reason being was that while I once saw it as the experiences that CXS was having with LG in the photo shop, it now felt like it was him taking a vow to dive back in time to save LG. I know I keep coming back to that in all of this, but over and over again this song just felt like there was some sense of "saving." Then, when CXS got back from the dive and LG was bleeding out on the couch, the line "Come back from the dive, back in time," almost felt like CXS chastising himself for not being back in time to protect/save LG.

Overall, I knew this song was being presented as "the plotline" that I was just waiting to unravel and unfold. By the end of the season, I thought I understood what the whole song meant, but there was always one line that bothered me:

Well don't you feel sorry I'll love where I'm going now

There was something about this line that always tripped me up. Was it that CXS was asking someone else if they felt sorry for him? Where is he going? Why does he love it? It wasn't adding up, but at the time, I chalked it up to likely missing something and not understanding. However, I see now that might not have been the case. It was more likely that I, in fact, didn't have all of the pieces to the puzzle like I had originally thought.

❗Season 2 Spoilers Below❗

Season 2 Analysis: ❗Season 2 Spoilers❗

Holy shit was I wrong. After finishing Season 2 and getting the puzzle piece that LG has not only dove back to the beginning but broke his own rule has really changed the way I see this song now.

Drastically

I now believe that the POVs have flipped. The verse that I originally saw as CXS's POV, I now think is actually LG's and vice versa.

Verse 1: (Apologies in advance, this is gonna be a long analysis)

It didn't take too long to realize Something has changed in the back of my mind Your eyes There ain't nowhere left to hide behind

I now believe that this was Lu Guang referring to Cheng Xiaoshi. I believe it was when he realized how much CXS meant to him. He recognized that something had changed for him and it had happened because of CXS. By the end of Season 2, the audience discovers that LG is willing to break his own rules over CXS. Thus, leading me to believe that CXS changed something within LG that was so strong that it altered his own beliefs. The comment about having nowhere else to hide behind I believe could mean one of two things, or even possibly both. 1. LG believed that CXS saw him for who he was. His eyes could see all of who he was and there was nothing else he could hide from him as his soul had been exposed to CXS. 2. When CXS died, LG had nowhere left to hide behind. CXS was his "safety blanket" so to speak and with CXS gone, LG had nowhere to turn.

Time no longer flew like it was When the flash froze everything before Without you I don't know if I could take this road

I feel like this one is fairly self-explanatory. When CXS died, it was as if time had stopped for LG. He didn't know what to do and likely felt quite literally that the flash of the camera had frozen everything in the past for him. The final photo he had in his hand and looking at it, he must have had the thought of not knowing if he could indeed go on without CXS.

Chase you to the end of the world Just to say your name once more If I had only got it right before

And clearly, he will. LG is professing that he'll chase CXS to the end of the world just to have a few more moments with him. However, we're now left with how he only wishes he had "got it right before." When I first heard that line, I believed that it was someone who had messed up in a way that they couldn't fix. Like, when someone dies and you wish that you had done things just a little differently. If you had said that one thing you always wanted to or had been there for that special moment in their life or a time when they needed you most. At first, that line felt like that longing, but now it almost feels like it might be a bit of a regret or chastising way that LG is talking to himself. "If only he had got it right before," because-- if he had, CXS would still be alive and he wouldn't have had to go back and rewind time.

Verse 2:

Here's to all the mistakes I never made All the twists and turns I'm always late to my fate

I now believe that this has to do with CXS. Overall, during Season 2, CXS did his best time and time again not to make any mistakes. So, I think the beginning line could easily be referring to all of the mistakes CXS didn't make. It's not that there have no mistakes because we clearly saw a few that he made early on in Season 1. However, this line is drawing attention to the fact that there were other mistakes CXS could have made but didn't. Additionally, I'm now believing that CXS’s death is actually the fated outcome that there have been multiple twists and turns added to his timeline in order to prolong that "fate." Thus, making him late.

If it ain't for your misguided taste I'd turn out so ordinary Fabulously un-addictively bore out my own brain Hey, out of my way

The beginning of this almost sounds like there's a bit of recognition that if it weren't for LG's decision to go back, CXS might believe that he would have lived and died ordinarily. In fact, I believe this potentially fits with his personality. Underneath the funny and joking exterior, CXS still seemed like he was a fairly lonely person before befriending LG. I think it might also be safe to say that "if it ain't for your misguided taste," might also be a jab at himself. As in: "if it weren't for LG's misguided taste in choosing friends-- like him," then CXS would have been very "ordinary." I think it's safe to say that CXS likely believes that LG brought out the best in him. Plus, "Fabulously un-addictively bore out my own brain" feels more on par with something CXS would say as well. When I first thought this portion was related to LG, it felt...weird. I tried to make it fit, but it just didn't feel like LG. So, now that the POVs seemed to have flipped, this verse in particular feels like it's makes more sense and has more of a greater flow to the characters than what I first imagined.

Chorus:

Every minute that I dialed back in time Every single existence rewinds Something secretive hidden inside Your mind All the heartaches and the smiles never faded I know you'll be by my side when we make it Come back from the dive back in time

Clearly, I believe this is now from LG's POV. Every minute that LG dialed back in time, every single existence he rewound. Saying that the heartaches and smiles never faded also makes it seem like LG is reliving all of these "pasts" as if they're fond memories. That somehow none of these cherished moments ever faded from the past. That somehow, every single one of them managed to stay in tact. However, with the line, "I know you'll be by my side when we make it," leads the audience to believe that something is bound to change because-- this time, CXS has to make it. And the final lines feel like LG is asking CXS to come back from the dive as if the timeline he already lived was just the vision of what he saw through a picture. As if he is waiting on CXS to return to him, the same way he always did at the end of his dives.

Well don't you feel sorry I'll love where I'm going now

We know, LG. We know. Cause you're about to lose your mind.

Finally, I'd like to draw your attention to a few screenshots from the OP animation:

Here we see the contrast between the two leads. However, once again, after finishing Season 2. I think these shots in particular carry more meaning than what they did in Season 1.

In season 1, these shots can easily point towards the way their powers work in the dynamic that they have using the photos. LG is the overseer who knows all within the photo and CXS is the one living it in the moment. Thus, making him blind. I think it's well shown in the shot of LG looking over the city in comparison to CXS falling with the film over his eyes. To which, it's reiterated in the following shot of the two men side by side.

Additionally, in the beginning of the OP, someone is holding a picture. Due to the lack of a watch, it can be assumed before the next shot even appears that this is CXS holding the photo. However, later on in the OP, there's an aiming shot that can clearly be recognized as LG. Again, I think in Season 1, these were great indicators of how they functioned as a dynamic, but I think it still greatly points to Season 2 as well.

Unlike Season 1, we know that in Season 2 LG has jumped back in time to try and change a death node for CXS's life. Also, if what he says is true and that he "went back to the beginning," it can also be theorized that everything we saw in Season 1 is, at the bare minimum, take 2. Thus, adding depth to the screenshots shared above. Not only would those scenes be pertinent to their dynamic in Season 1, but they also would reinforce the fact that LG knows what to expect and CXS is blind to the timeline. LG sees, controls, and takes the shots while CXS is free-falling and can merely observe.

Final Thoughts:

I literally cannot express enough how absolutely amazing I think this piece of fiction is. I'm not one to typically love time-travel stuff, but this has absolutely captured my attention. I love the theories, the way the story unfolds, the characters, and so much more. It's entertaining, heartbreaking, relatable, and believable all at once. In all honesty, I'm awestruck by this entire show and cannot wait for Season 3. I also have an analysis on VORTEX! Check it out!

And for those of you who literally made it to the end...You're amazing and I love you.💙🥺

[hirokari]

"terrifying?" "terrifying."

wc: 0.8k words letsgo!! || g: fluff, friends to lovers, haha guang's a simp, gn!reader || w: none! || a/n: the whole time i wrote this i had Chevy's I Know a Place playing on loop so give it a listen! :>

Lu Guang takes a moment to pause his reading and revel the feeling of your fingers in his hair. They tug and twirl and braid his white strands, though you're never too rough which he appreciates.

A small laugh escapes your lips when you finish a fifth braid, leaning back on the bean bag you share with him as you observe your work. "What?" Asks Guang, leaning back to look at you. "do I look that ridiculous?"

"Yes, you look that ridiculous."

There's a foreign feeling that you ignite in him that makes him want to purse his lips and run away, yet he also yearns for more of your attention and for your fingers to explore more of his hair and skin and face. He'd always admired how comforting you could be and how you always knew your way with words. You never talk with uncertainty and most definitely don't think with so, too.

Or maybe he found everything you did calming in a reassuring way. There's no denying that swell in his chest he'd used to hate is now something all too familiar whenever he'd spent time with you.

It's until you blow on his face when he realizes he's been watching you. "What style do you want me to do now?" Your voice is quiet when you ask him, and again he's sighing when you untangle the braids in his hair with gentle intent.

"I dunno," Answers Guang in a mumble, resuming to where he carried off in his book. "anything is fine, just don't mess it up too much." And you jest in return, "Hmm? Are you enjoying this, Lu Guang?"

In a quiet panic, he coughs, "This is the most peace I've had recently, especially with Cheng Xiaoshi around." There's a small and stupid thing called pride in his chest when you laugh at what he'd said, and he suddenly wants to shrink and burn with this burning, wild feeling you give him.

Lu Guang doesn't want to think he loves you, but he does. He knows he does. And he thinks he's so sure of his feelings until he's melting when you braid his hair and hum a small tune, chest beating painfully rapid, but it's a good pain.

"So, what book are you reading? Is it any good?"

Guang doesn't know how to answer you because frankly, this book is the last of his concerns right now. He'd been so caught up in you and what you say or what you do with his hair to even try focus reading.

"'A Little History of the World.'" He quotes as he runs a finger down the spine of the book. "It's thrifted, found it a little while ago while I was going through a flea market."

"That's cool," Your tone is laced with interest as you peer over his shoulder to check out said book. "mind if I read it sometime?" And Guang is hit with a brilliant idea:

"I could read it to you, now."

"Sure, I like listening to your voice."

At the time-- that being a split 2 seconds after he'd given the suggestion-- it seemed like a genius idea, but after hearing what you'd said about liking his voice, he doesn't think he could possibly read to you. Not without a bashful smile.

But he reads nonetheless, he recites word after word, becoming seemingly immersed in it after a page of reading about the Greeks and their grand wars with Persians, and Mars being the planet of war and Venus, love. He reads and bounces on his heel and fidgets with the corner of the page as you listen well, mindlessly playing with his hair.

You do wish you had flowers because oh how nice they'd look in his hair. You have the strange idea of making a flower crown in this secluded area of the library you hang out in and give it to Guang, like a crown to throne him with.

You hadn't realized Guang had stopped reading to lean back and look at you again, and when you do you tilt your head and ask him what's wrong.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Truth be told, these were the last words you'd expected Lu Guang say to you, but for some reason you're calmed by the fact that he thinks so. It's quiet, but not a suffocating quiet because you look at him with eyes just as soft.

"Wait, no, scratch that." Your heart drops. "Hm?"

"I am in love with you." Guang says his words with such confidence it gives you shivers, warm shivers that you don't mind because you enjoy it. "You are?"

"I'm in love with you. It's as simple and as terrifying at that."

"Terrifying?"

"Terrifying."

You don't know why, but you smile at his choice of words. "Well, Lu Guang, I think I'm in love with you too. And I'll show you how un-terrifying it is, you'll just have to trust me."

a/n: hmm i think i want some opinions on this imagine in my ask box, if that's not too much to ask? :< this hasn't been proofread and it's like 4 in the morning so i'll go to sleep and then wake up and then see how it is

m.list

hirokari, 2022

[peachy-lemon83]

My first thought when I saw the picture wasn’t Cheng Xiaoshi going into the photo, but instead Lu Guang potentially trying to give them clues on where the hideout would be? I doubt that’s the real reason but the important part there was it didn’t occur to me that Lu Guang would want Cheng Xiaoshi to go into a photo without him. Another post talks about some things in this episode (the link will be at the bottom). One thing that particularly stood out was the time. And it does have explanations but none of them seem right???

So the thing with the time is, it’s only been 4 hours since the time of the photo. Meaning that unless something interfered or Cheng Xiaoshi clapped and ended it (which we didn’t see happen) then Cheng Xiaoshi should have 6 hours left of the dive. And the reason I say he isn’t in the dive still (other than his eyes not being golden) is the fact that he start bleeding again. Yet when he was doing all those stunts he’s not bleeding? Could potentially be he just snapped his stitches later and they only bleed through after he was off screen. But we also know that possession doesn’t keep the same physical limits.

One explanation could be that Li Tianchens powers interfere with Cheng Xiaoshis. (I’m mainly thinking of when Cheng Xiaoshi was possessing Li Tianxi but got forced out and saw images from the mothers pov).

The second explanation I have is that Cheng Xiaoshi isn’t someone who could patiently wait and try to figure out where Lu Guang is from possessing Lu Guang (especially with the four hour time difference between him possessing and the current Lu Guang).

Honestly none of this could even matter since Cheng Xiaoshi most likely messed up the timeline (tho it also wouldn’t surprise me if the police guy ends up turning away last minute, it wouldn’t be the first time they left on a cliff hanger that purposefully lead us the wrong way), however something about it just doesn’t seem right to me.

(Honestly like I said at the beginning any scenario where Lu Guang would set up for Cheng Xiaoshi to potentially jump without him just doesn’t feel right, and I say Lu Guang because he had to have taken the photo for a reason, but I also feel like my feelings on whether Lu Guang was possessed or not are heavily influenced by me wanting the cute scene of Lu Guang saving Cheng Xiaoshi to not be ruined ;-:)

In S2E6, we are shown a window with avery wide crack

In S2E8, the kettle is still on the counter. (Remember, this is after the window was already broken by Lu Guang)

But then CXS, as “Lu Guang,” used that kettle to break the window. So we’re off to a wrong start here.

We aren’t shown how wide the window crack is this time, but maybe it didn’t look wide enough for an adult male to go through? Maybe that’s why the police officer didn’t pay it that much attention and immediately noticed CXS?

Anyways, I still think CXS misunderstood Lu Guang’s intentions with the photo left on the phone. LG went so far to sacrifice himself to save CXS. There was nothing more for CXS to do; he’s already out of danger. Why would LG want CXS to do more dangerous stuff?

And remember, a photo can only be dived into once. Without the ability to see the future, there was no way CXS can get it right in one go. (He even threw the damn kettle)

As for why LG left his phone… maybe it was just to distract them. To not get CXS involved. A red herring, so to speak. (or maybe there’s another reason, but I’m too dumb to figure it out)

Also, LG had a flashback of CXS dying in S2E1. If CXS had really been kidnapped, then maybe he really was gonna die. But now that LG has saved him, crossing a node that shouldn’t be crossed, a life has to be paid

Anyways, one thing for sure is that my boy Lu Guang is so dying this season 🥲

[talktothesun]

Here I go again, sorting these tennis boys into categories. But this time, it’s their Hogwarts house (and rising)! I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and one of the questions I ask people who I want to be friends with is what their house would be. So, I wanted to see if I could put each tennis boy into their houses! I would like to argue that a person’s Hogwarts house is determined by the traits that one person has and values the most. When I use rising, that means that it’s another house that has traits that this person values, but it’s not their primary house. It’s more so a secondary house.

First up, we have Jiale. His house is definitely Hufflepuff. He is the definition of loyalty, kindness, and dedication. While he is not the more hardworking at the beginning of the series, he realizes the importance of working hard in order to maintain a good partnership with Dayong. That enables his dedication and in the second half of the series, we see Jiale constantly working hard to improve his strengths. He is also incredibly loyal. Jiale is the type of person to go to the end of the Earth for the people he loves, and we see that type of kindness when he interacts with Zhuo Zhi in class, with Lu Xia on the courts, and with Xinglong in his restaurant.

Speaking of Dayong, his house is Hufflepuff with a Ravenclaw rising. Dayong, similar to Jiale, has a strong sense of loyalty, kindness, and dedication. BUT, his rising house is Ravenclaw because he is incredibly clever. Whenever Siyang is not at the helm of the team, Dayong is always there to act as vice-captain. He takes his position seriously. But he is also not afraid to use his cleverness for the benefit of individuals. A prime example would be when Lu Xia is told by Yan Zhiming to fix his rackets by running to the racket repair shop, Dayong hands Lu Xia a pair of ankle weights to add to the training. He simply hands them to Lu Xia and basically says, “Have fun! Come back before practice ends!” Cleverness at its finest.

But wait, there is an even more clever tennis player. Yan Zhiming’s Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw with a Slytherin rising. Yan is arguably the smartest character on the show, obviously. He is the ultimate data nerd. However, what stems his Slytherin side is how he manipulates his use of data during a match. The match that comes to mind is his Singles game against Lui Lian from Hai Guang. Yan was able to use his data to his advantage but without being tied down to his data. He was resourceful and cunning. He didn’t let his opponent see what he was doing. It’s a common thread in Yan’s playing that he will analyze his opponent’s movements and skills in order to gain the best outcome of that match. And, honestly, using his Yan-juice against his teammates is one of the most Slytherin things on this show. He definitely knows how to manipulate his teammates for the better.

He Xinglong’s house is, without a doubt, Hufflepuff. I will say with my whole chest that Helga Hufflepuff would be damn proud of a member of her house cooking some of the best roast goose in China. Xinglong also represents all that Hufflepuff stands for. He is loyal to the bone. His dedication to rejoin the team after leaving for that period of time to help his father’s restaurant is showcased.  But I think what makes Xinglong a true Hufflepuff is the fact that he is the glue of the team (and I will die with that statement!). Without Xinglong showing up to the forest during the team’s hunt for the secret to winning, they probably wouldn’t have found the treasure (or, at least, it would have taken them a lot longer to join together). His loyalty and kindness is an amazing thing to see in the little moments, like Xinglong playing matches that hurt his arm because he doesn’t want to let the team down.

Qiao Chen is most definitely a Gryffindor. He is courageous and will definitely fight anyone in the name of the team. The amount of times that Qiao Chen has stood up to his opponent against their attempts at intimidating them (doubles match against Hai Guang, doubles match against Guo Zi, singles match against No. 3 – need I go on?) is truly Gryffindor. Qiao Chen also isn’t afraid to go up against his own teammates. Obviously, and unfortunately, Baiyang is the main target. But their little quarrels just exemplifies Qiao Chen’s courage. He is willing to stand up against his own teammate in the name of the team. Also, I absolutely see Qiao Chen being like a Ron Weasley in this universe. I mean, all Qiao Chen does is eat and play tennis. All Ron Weasley does is eat and play Quidditch.

Speaking of Baiyang, his house is (and this may be an unpopular opinion) Slytherin with a Hufflepuff rising. I said it. Baiyang’s icy personality and strive to be the best at his craft (his iconic Snake-ball!) is true Slytherin. He is also ambitious. In the match against Yu Feng, he almost lost, but his ambition and determination to win prevailed. He is always working hard to be the best version of himself that he could be. But his love and care for small kittens is undeniably Hufflepuff. He shows his true colors when he’s alone or when around a small animal or child. I think Baiyang has an underlying side of caring for his teammates and shows it in ways that aren’t conventional. He likes to spend time with them without the need of pomp and circumstance. That is what brings out his Hufflepuff side.

Lu Xia is one hundred precent Slytherin. That boy doesn’t have a single cell that doesn’t scream green and silver. He is truly ambitious, cunning, and achievement-oriented. He is determined to win and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. However, I think one of my favorite traits of Slytherins is their undeniable loyalty. I will argue that Slytherins will go to the grave before they reveal secrets about one of their own. Towards the end of the series, Lu Xia demonstrated his loyalty to Siyang and to the team when he promised to be the pillar of Yu Qing when Siyang was away.

Zhuo Zhi, also, is a Slytherin, through and through. He is ambitious and determined. His iconic match against Guo Zi’s coach is the most Slytherin thing to come out of that show. To let your opponent think that they’re going to win and just give them 5 set points before totally destroying them by winning 7 straight set points? True Slytherin behavior. He also has a strong sense of loyalty to the team, specifically to Siyang. I think his second singles match against Hai Guang definitely demonstrates that. He couldn’t bear to lose for the sake of the team, so he did what he almost never does – he finally plays to his full potential. And helped Lu Xia gain the confidence to win it all for the team to go to Nationals. Zhuo Zhi does Slytherin things without even realizing it. Like teasing Qiao Chen about his crush in front of the whole team, or tricking his opponent into playing to their fullest potential before he even unlocks 50% of his.

And last, but not least, our favorite captain. Siyang is undoubtedly a Slytherin, but he definitely has a Gryffindor rising. He will stop at nothing to get to Nationals and win it all for Yu Qing. Let’s take his match against Ji Jingwu. He has the determination to sacrifice playing tennis just to win. No matter how many doctor’s visits, how many X-rays, talks with Coach about treatment, nothing stopped him from playing that match. But I think what makes Siyang have a little bit of Gryffindor in him is that exact same match. He is courageous and loyal. His loyalty is doubled, both in the show and by these two houses. Being a Gryffindor also enables his leadership skills. Siyang truly is one of the best captains on the show, so need I say less? Even when we have flashbacks of his old captain, Siyang still looks like he’s the captain. He has leadership skills that Dayong and Coach Qi can’t replace, despite Siyang attempting to find a captain candidate for his absence. He truly has a Gryffindor rising in those aspects alone. But let’s be honest, Siyang’s Slytherin side definitely shows up more often than not when he’s tricking his teammates into running a marathon but really wants to give an inspirational speech.

Honorable mention: Qi Ying is a Hufflepuff. Change my mind, you can’t.

I really went ham on this post. Do I have any regrets? Never.